The meanings of certain acronyms and abbreviations used herein are given in Table 1.
TABLE 1Acronyms and Abbreviations2-D2-dimensional3-D3-dimensionalAPIApplication Programmng InterfaceCOLLADACollaborative Design ActivityCPUCentral Processing UnitEPGelectronic program guideGPUGraphics Processing UnitHTMLHyperText Markup LanguageTIMUTexture Image Modification UnitXMLExtensible Markup Language
Wikipedia provides an introduction to 3 dimensional (3 D) computer graphics as follows: 3 D computer graphics (in contrast to 2 dimensional (2 D) computer graphics) are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2 D images. Such images may be stored for viewing later or displayed in real-time. Despite these differences, 3 D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2 D computer vector graphics in a wire-frame model and 2 D computer raster graphics in the final rendered display. A wire frame model is a visual presentation of a three dimensional or physical object used in 3 D computer graphics. It is created by specifying each edge of the physical object where two mathematically continuous smooth surfaces meet, or by connecting an object's constituent vertices using straight lines or curves. The object is projected onto the computer screen by drawing lines at the location of each edge. In computer graphics software, the distinction between 2 D and 3 D is occasionally blurred; 2 D applications may use 3 D techniques to achieve effects such as lighting, and 3 D may use 2 D rendering techniques. 3 D computer graphics are often referred to as 3 D models. Apart from the rendered graphic, the model is contained within the graphical data file. However, there are differences. A 3 D model is the mathematical representation of any three-dimensional object. A model is not technically a graphic until it is displayed. A model can be displayed visually as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3 D rendering. 3 D rendering is the 3 D computer graphics process of automatically converting 3 D wire frame models into 2 D images with 3 D photorealistic effects on a computer. Moreover, the techniques adapted for efficient handling of 3 D graphics tend to be more computationally intensive than for 2 D graphics, and when implemented in hardware, the complexity and expense is commensurately greater. Nevertheless, modern user interfaces are shifting toward support and expectation of 3 D processing engines.
Some attempts have been made to combine the advantages of the simpler 2 D techniques with 3 D techniques in order to shorten rendering time and generally improve performance with as little hardware as possible.
For example, Jiao et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0198168 proposes a graphics processing unit that may perform 3 D graphics processing in accordance with a 3 D graphics pipeline to render 3 D images and may also perform 2 D graphics processing in accordance with a 2 D graphics pipeline to render 2 D images. Each stage of the 2 D graphics pipeline may be mapped to at least one stage of the 3 D graphics pipeline. For example, a clipping, masking and scissoring stage in 2 D graphics may be mapped to a depth test stage in 3 D graphics. Coverage values for pixels within paths in 2 D graphics may be determined using rasterization and depth test stages in 3 D graphics. A paint generation stage and an image interpolation stage in 2 D graphics may be mapped to a fragment shader stage in 3 D graphics. A blending stage in 2 D graphics may be mapped to a blending stage in 3 D graphics.